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Alright, I'll try to explain this to the best of my ability. For it is something that has affected me for as long as I can remember. I'm not sure if you can relate, but when I witness 'certain' events in 'certain' anime I suddenly feel the urge to pause it as I feel some sort of...how should I put this, perhaps you could call it 'embarrassment' regarding what is taking place in the anime that I was watching.

While there's no set pattern, it commonly takes place during romantic events, nosebleed-worthy events, events in which something bad will surely happen to the character, or events in which I find the characters' actions to be stupid or embarrassing. In these cases, I feel the urge to pause it right away and often I would be trying to catch my breath as if I had been running up a flight of stairs.

This has affected my ability to watch anime considerably, as I am unable to finish certain anime that abundantly display the kind of events that stimulate this certain reaction from me. Has this happened to any of you? If so, how much does it affect your experience in watching anime?

Incidentally, this is not limited to anime, I find that as long as the conditions are met it can transpire in exactly the same manner for manga, movies, etc.

Yep, I did get that feeling sometimes too, especially in anime,movies,mangas,TV dramas, etc that have mediocre stories with badly written script or a protagonist that acts foolishly. Beside from ecchi/embarassing moments, I usually get that reaction a lot from watching shonen filler episodes where they get all sentimental or emotional while spouting obvious lines like “I’ll never give up!”, “No way I’ll lose!”, “Good will prevail, evil begone!” and other cheesy things like that. All that is good if the fights are inspired but most of the time they are not. The more experienced you are, the more reactions like that you get. Still, when I do like the general story, I usually brace myself and continue on.

I learned my lesson from them. Now, I only watch anime that I’m sure is ‘smart’ enough to pick my interest. I no longer waste my time watching mediocre harems like Da Capo, Girls Bravo, Hyakka Ryouran, Shuffle etc. Also, If I want to see characters make a fool out of themselves, I’d better off watching comedy like School Rumble where the characters’ foolishness is actually intentional and funny not cringe-worthy or facepalm-inducing. That’s why I prefer watching Beelzebub over Guilty Crown.

Funny, you mentioned School Rumble! since I think that's the first instance where that certain reaction of mine prevented me from finishing the anime. I didn't think it was bad or face-palm worthy, but somehow I felt embarrassed for them almost the entire time. Maybe one day I'll overcome it and finish that series, since I think it's actually pretty good.

This has affected my ability to watch anime considerably, as I am unable to finish certain anime that abundantly display the kind of events that stimulate this certain reaction from me. Has this happened to any of you? If so, how much does it affect your experience in watching anime?

Junichi during the Haruka arc of Amagami SS... I think it was them "roleplaying" in the cafeteria... maybe it wasn't that scene.. but it's not like I'm trying to remember it. Still finished the arc and watched most of the anime though, had a lot of dumb Junichi moments throughout though...

School Rumble is a good comedy. It’s hilarious and all the jokes are spot on (for me at least). And yes, the characters are often making a fool out of themselves but as I said before, it’s intentional for the jokes. When the story get serious you’ll get to see the true talent of the writer.

As for feeling embarrassed, I often find myself reacting like that to some failed-attempts-at-being-emotional scenes, not comedy. That’s why I love Sosuke in Fumoffu! even though he did nothing else than embarrassing himself most of the time.

Yeah, it happens. I have that kind of feeling when I see Orihime shout "Kurosaki-kun, Kurosaki-kun........." when he's being beaten to a pulp because she did something stupid. Or when that whiny bitch Kagome shouts " Inuyasha, Inuyasha,......." when she gets captured because she did something not possible by sane creatures. So, basically any bitchy, whiny, useless character who can only talk trash and do nothing makes me wanna stop watching that anime(or rather smash the screen of my laptop or TV). The other thing that makes me cringe are loli characters - I just can't stand that. The only anime that I have watched that had a loli character in it are Hidan no Aria, Hayate the Combat Butler. One more thing, although I watched School Days in its entirety, now I wonder why I wasted my time on it.

"The Office" is essentially an entire show built around this sensation. Of course, in that case it's exactly the reaction they're going for, and it's hilarious, albeit still uncomfortable to watch at times. (Again, their goal in the first place.)

I have trouble watching scenes where the character is going to make a huge fool out of himself. Especially if it isn't entirely played for laughs. When I know that scene is coming, I sometimes catch myself looking away or putting my hand over my face like a schoolgirl at a Saw screening.

I suppose it's just empathy? At some level, it might remind me of social blunders I've made myself that I'd rather not recall.

I have trouble watching scenes where the character is going to make a huge fool out of himself. Especially if it isn't entirely played for laughs. When I know that scene is coming, I sometimes catch myself looking away or putting my hand over my face like a schoolgirl at a Saw screening.

I suppose it's just empathy? At some level, it might remind me of social blunders I've made myself that I'd rather not recall.

This pretty much sums up my own experience as well. I see it usually happening when a character is gong to do something incredibly stupid and seriously embarrass him- or herself.

But, there are definitely times where I am embarrassed and face-palm at what is happening. It's usually when the fan service is poorly timed or thrown in for no reason. Highschool of the Dead is the best example of this.

But, there are definitely times where I am embarrassed and face-palm at what is happening. It's usually when the fan service is poorly timed or thrown in for no reason. Highschool of the Dead is the best example of this.

If we include scenes that would make me embarrassed if I were with a group, then the list probably increases exponentially.

It's almost a feat when a show manages to make you feel embarrassed and awkward when you're alone, though. That's something special.